The Sheppard Family
by EM Vought
Summary: The story of the Sheppard's, their family and friends. Jack gets a girl pregnant, he's forbidden to see her, their cousins aren't supposed to see them, and general confusion from the five...no six Sheppard children.


"You were the one kid, Jack! I thought we wouldn't have to deal with this shit from you!" Christian Sheppard yelled at his son as the boy sat on the couch. "Well, you'll be glad to know that I paid off that girl's father to get an abortion!"

Jack shot up. "What? NO! Dad, no! That's my kid, not yours!"

"I won't have a scandal, Jack. Now, it's final! It's probably already been done!"

"She'd never have an abortion! Never!"

"Well, she didn't have much choice, now did she?"

Jack sat back down defeated.

Dinner was a sober affair as it always was. The kids were required to tell something about their day, but other than that it was quiet. "I have an announcement to make." Christian said. Derek stole a glance at his mother, who had her lips set in a thin line. This couldn't be good. "You have a sister and she's coming to live with us."

Well, it was no secret in that family that Christian had had affairs in the past. Although no one thought he'd bring home a bastard child from one. Not that the kids cared, Jack was a bit angry but only because the man was a total and complete hypocrite. He could do whatever he wanted, but his kids had to be what he pretended to be. Well, it wasn't the girl's fault she had a no good father. "What's her name?" Jennifer asked.

"Claire." He told them and brought out a picture. He handed it to his oldest child and Jennifer looked over the girl critically. She had dyed black hair and an eyebrow ring. She was kind of surprised her father would even consider it. He always wanted his children to tow the line and be a reflection of him…that is his profession life where he was above reproach. So Jack getting a girl pregnant was definitely not a good thing, and then John wanting to visit their cousins…who Christian didn't approve of since his sister had married 'beneath her' and then died and then their father towing them all over across the country. John Winchester, who incidentally Margo Sheppard had named Jack's twin after…was still a touchy subject with Christian. The one thing Margo had done that Christian hadn't approved of.

Jack looked at the photo for a brief second before handing it on down to his twin. His mind was firmly on the child that he assumed had been aborted. They hadn't planned on getting pregnant, but it had happened and now he wanted that child, he wanted to help raise it. But that would mess up his chances of getting into med school and his entire future would go down the drain. He didn't care! He wanted to marry her and start a family…but he was only 17…and he couldn't even talk to anyone about this. No one would understand and he was forbidden to talk about it to his siblings.

"When's she going to be here?" Derek asked.

"Her flight arrives on Friday."

"Why's she comin'?" Little Jerry asked, his father indulged him not talking right because he didn't have all his adult teeth yet.

"Her mother doesn't have any other option, money's tight and Claire…has problems."

"Oh." He nodded.

James helped his sister into the armchair. "How you feelin', Sugar?" He asked softly careful to keep one hand on her stomach and the other on her back.

"I'm ok." She said smiling a little. She was a bit clammy though, the morning sickness hadn't been good on her, but she never complained.

"Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm fine. Just close the blinds, I want to nap a bit."

He nodded. "Sure, you want me to stay with you until you fall asleep?"

"Yeah…unless you need to go," She said yawning.

"Nah, I ain't gotta go anywhere. Just don't worry about it." He closed the blinds and kissed her forehead. "Just take care of that baby, Sugar."

She smiled. "I plan on it."

Claire was scared, she had only found out about her father 72 hours before…her mother had told her he was dead. Thanks, Mom, she thought bitterly, and now she had to go live with the man and his other family. She pulled her backpack up on her shoulder as she exited the plane looking for the man in the picture. "Claire?"

She turned to see two young men a few years older than herself. "Yes?" She asked in a pure Australian accent.

"Hey, I'm John." One said shaking her hand and taking her backpack. "This is Jack."

"Nice to meet you, Claire," She could tell he said it genuinely he just seemed a bit sad and distracted.

"And you are?" She asked a bit confused.

"Oh, we're your brothers." John said.

"Ah, I only expected one."

"One?" John laughed. "You've got 5."

"5??"

"Yeah, Jen's the oldest, she's 18…gonna graduate soon. Then Jack and me, then there's Derek, he's 14, and Jerry, he's 7."

She nodded feeling even more scared than she had before. "I see."

"Yeah, sorry, we're just thrown on one another, we know, but you're more than welcome here." Jack said sincerely. "Even Mom's excited."

"Really? I thought she'd be a bit…"

"Angry?" John filled in. "Nah, she's mad at Dad, not you. It's not your fault our Dad is a scumbag."

She blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Sorry, none of us really like him. He's not…very good at parenting…"

"You can say that again." Jack muttered under his breath.

John looked at his twin concerned, but Jack wasn't talking. It hurt him he was keeping something from him. Maybe it was Louisa…she had just left…maybe that's why Jack was in a state. John knew he loved her. More than loved her, Louisa was his world. Ever since that first moment they met, it was Louisa this and Louisa that and now it was nothing. John knew Jack had cried over something, but not in front of him, god no. He just knew because Jack had red eyes and said he had allergies. Allergies…right, like he believed that for an instant.

"Come on, Lou, push!" James said holding his sister's hand.

"I'm pushing, dammit!" She yelled at him as they held her legs back. She was crying, even with the pain killers running through her. She had been in labor for the past 10 hours and pushing for 2, and she was exhausted. Her tiny body, thankfully, wasn't too small or the wrong shape, though she was young to have a baby.

"Shh, it's ok, baby." Her mother said kissing her forehead.

Her father was positioned between her legs ready to help the baby out. "It's ok, honey, just a few more pushes. The heads almost out."

"Almost out??? God!" They all chuckled a bit at her. They couldn't help it.

"OK, Lou, push." The screaming and bearing down and James yelping from her nails were definite indications she was pushing. "Heads out!" he called cheerfully.

Louisa was seriously considering telling her father to put a sock in it. He was just too happy…way too happy. It wasn't too long after though that the baby was out and she was holding the little thing in her arms and hearing James whooping that it was a boy. She looked down in the little eyes that looked up at her after calming down a bit and opening his eyes. They looked like Jack's. She kissed his forehead. "Hey there, little man. I'm your mommy."

The good thing about having your baby at home was sleeping in your own bed and having a doctor there 24/7 in case something goes wrong. Louisa smiled. Yeah, she loved her family.

"Dad's going to kill you." Kaeli Winchester said as he brother came into the trailer.

"What? Why?"

"Well, one, you weren't here last night."

"So?"

"So, Dad got back early."

"Uh oh…"

"Yeah," She said pouring herself a cup of coffee. "And you were with Isobel weren't you?"

Dean looked uncomfortable. "Yeah…"

"God, Dean, I'm not an idiot."

"What?" His head came up.

"She's pregnant, isn't she?"

He just looked at his twin sister and then looked down nodding.

She sighed. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know." He admitted. "I guess I gotta come clean with Dad…"

"No, because I already know," John Winchester said coming out of his bedroom. "We discussed this, Dean."

"I know." He said looking so forlorn he had let his father down.

"Well, we'd better get Isobel and her grandmother here to talk about this."

"We don't have to." Dean said swallowing. "Isobel and I talked…we're thinking about adoption…but she wants my name on the birth certificate along with hers."

John nodded, "All right."

"Why do ya look so down all the time, Jack?" Claire asked as they walked along in their neighborhood.

The young man sighed, "Because Dad's a total and complete bastard."

"Yeah, besides that," She laughed.

"He paid off my girlfriend's father so she would have an abortion."

She blinked big blue eyes, "When?"

"Just before you got here."

"That long ago, huh?"

"Yeah," He sighed again, his hands in his pockets. "I just…I don't even know if she went through with it. I'd never believe she actually could. She's totally against abortion, but I can't exactly call her and ask either." It was frustrating, because he knew that if she had kept the baby he or she would have already been born. He ached to hold his child in his arms and he ached to hold Louisa in his arms. He missed her terribly. He hadn't realized he was talking to Claire about his thoughts. Holding it in for so long had been murder on him and now he just couldn't stop talking about it.

Kaeli was sitting in the trailer reading when Isobel came in. She was round and going to deliver any day, "Hey, Iz."

"Hey, Kae, is Dean around?"

"Yeah, he's in the shower."

Isobel came and sat down next to her. One hand came up gently running over the bulge under her shirt. "I keep wondering if this is the right decision." She admitted calmly. "I know neither Dean nor I is ready for a baby to take care of…but I wonder if we could make it work anyway…"

"You're not 18 and Dad I more than ready to just yank Dean out of here. You know we move around a lot."

"Yeah, I do. I just wonder if I'm even going to see him again."

"Oh, I guarantee it."

Louisa sat in the rocking chair gently rocking back and forth as Little Gabriel nurses contentedly. The door opened and James came in. "Hey, Sugar." He said coming over and ran a well-calloused hand over the infant's downy head. "How's my little boy?"

"He's fine." She smiled. "Just finishing up his lunch and then going to bed."

"He sleeps a lot when he's not eating."

"Yeah, don't worry though, soon he'll stay awake longer and you'll be able to play with him."

"Good," He smiled and then pointed at the boy. "You gotta quit this sleeping and eating all the time, kid. Got it?"

Gabriel pulled back yawning showing pink gums, as if telling him that he was going to do what he wanted, not what his uncle wanted.

"Yeah, yer definitely Lou's kid," He shook his head. He was kind of glad it wasn't a little girl. That would have just completely ruined him.

Jack finally pulled his head out from under Jen's bed triumphantly holding a piece of paper. "Found it?" His sister asked.

"Yes," He said. "When was the last time you cleaned under there?"

"When was the last time Mia braved the danger zone?"

Yeah, Mia wouldn't brave that for all the tea in China…again. He chuckled and left the room. He closed his door and took the phone with him carefully dialing the number. "Hello?"

"Hey, Sam?"

"Yeah."

"It's Jack."

"Hey, Jack, what's up?" The chubby 13 year old asked.

"Well, I've got a problem and I was wondering if Kaeli or Dean could help me out…"

"Uh, just a sec…I think Kaeli's home…yeah…Kaeli!"

"Talk to me."

"Hey, Kae, it's Jack. I need a favor."

"Sure, what can I do for ya?"

"I need you to call a girl for me in Tennessee…"

"Ok, do you have her number?"

Jack gave it to her. "I can't call her myself because of Dad…I just want her to know that I think about her and was wondering if she…well…kept our baby."

"Your baby?? You Jack??"

"I know," He groaned. "I fell in love, it just happened."

"Yeah, sure, I'll call and I'll give you a call back."

They hung up and Kaeli dialed the number, "'Lo?"

"Hey, is this the Isaacs residence?"

"Sure is." The young man drawled.

"Great, listen I'm calling for Louisa…I'm Jack's cousin…"

"Oh, yeh are? Finally got the courage to call huh?"

"Well, no, he just didn't know how to…Uncle Christian was already so mad at him for everything, and it would have just been worse if he had called."

"Yeah, I understand. Christian is a real piece of shit."

"I couldn't agree with you more." She laughed.

James smiled. He liked this girl. "So, what did you want to know?"

"He just wants to know how Louisa's doing and if she kept the baby."

"Well, she's just fine and dandy. Misses Jack though, and yeah, she kept the baby. We got a little boy here, named his Gabriel. He was born on June 14."

"He'll be so happy to hear that." Kaeli said.

"Yeah…what about you, though?"

"Me? I'm happy for Jack."

"No, I mean what about you?"

"Oh, you want to know about me…" She said chuckling. "I'm 17 and we travel around quite a bit. Haven't for a while because my twin brother knocked up a girl and we're waiting for her to have the baby girl and he signs the birth certificate before we leave."

"Hmmm, anything else?"

"Well, I'm not like other girls."

"I can tell that over the phone." He whispered huskily. Something about her was just…intoxicating…and this was over the phone.

She smirked. "Yeah, well, maybe I have a little problem at night sometimes."

He smirked even more. "You mean a little furry problem?"

"Yeah, a little furry problem," She purred.

"Me too."

That was a first, but she had already known and she was getting extremely hot just talking to him. She hated to think what would happen in real life…actually, no, she didn't, she really wanted to know. "Hmmm, I think we're going to have to get together when we can."

"Yeah, I do to." He growled.

Kaeli saw Sam was spying and listening to them so she kicked him out of the trailer, though Sam could still hear by standing underneath one of the windows. Why was she so secretive when she was talking about sex? How was he ever going to learn anything if Kaeli and Dean didn't tell him? He could learn out of books…but it wasn't the same.

Part Three

Claire was unsure the first time she met her 'family'. She had never even known about any of them and she wasn't expecting all of them. She had gotten to know Jack and John, the twins, a little on the way home from the airport, and she definitely wasn't expecting the huge Boston manor that awaited her.

A man came out to help them with her bags, at first she thought it must be her father, but no, John introduced him as Graydon, the butler-gardener-handyman-sometimes driver. Graydon was a surly fellow, but Claire saw the twinkle in the older man's eyes. She had to smile a bit at that. She knew almost instantly that the man was all right. His bark was much worse than his bite. He took her bags and the twins led her into the house. "Mom? We're home." John called.

There was a shout and a small boy came hurtling around the corner. He was small and blonde with big blue eyes. "Hi!" He said smiling wide at her. His front two teeth were missing and that's the most she saw before he threw his arms around her. "I'm Jerry! I'm your brother!"

"Uh…hi, Jah-ry," She said a little uncertainly about the little boy hanging off of her.

"Come on, Jer." Jack said picking him right up off the floor and slinging the boy over his shoulder. "Let's leave Claire alone for now."

"Ok." He said not too fazed by his big brother as he hung there.

"Jack! Put Jerry down." An almost regal looking woman came into the hall. She smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes. Jack put the boy on the ground again rolling his eyes. "Hello, Claire," She said coming forward in her cream colored pants suit. "I'm Margo Sheppard, you may call me Margo."

She nodded a bit, "Mah-go."

Jerry giggled over Claire's accent. "She calls me 'Jaw-ry', Mommy!"

"That's because she's from a _different_ country, love. She doesn't talk like people from _Boston_." Claire didn't like how Margo said that. It was like she wasn't good enough for them because she was from Australia. She frowned. She hadn't done anything to the woman. It wasn't her fault her husband had slept with her mother. It wasn't her fault that the condom hadn't worked. If it was anyone's it was Christian Sheppard's fault.

"Oh, you're here!" A cheerful voice said coming into the hall. She found herself looking at another girl with orange/red hair cut to her shoulders. The girl was older and cute, she wasn't technically beautiful, but she had a cuteness about her, from the bouncy hair to her large blue eyes and just slightly pouty lips to the little slightly rounded nose, yes, a cuteness, but not beauty. "Hi! I'm Jen." She said shaking Claire's hand. That was easier. The older girl didn't get into her space or be too forward.

"Claire…" She said softly not really wanting to meet Jen's eyes. They had the same eyes…the same with Jerry.

"Well, the only one you haven't met is Derek." Margo said briskly. "He's still at school for a science fair.

Then why weren't they there? Claire wondered. She wouldn't have minded going to the school. She was going there anyway. But no one seemed keen to move in that direction. She shifted slightly from foot to foot. "Come on, Claire, I'll show you—"

Jen was cut off by her mother. "No, Jen, Mia will show Claire around. She's more than capable."

"Who's Mia?" Claire dared ask.

"She's our maid." Margo said importantly.

Claire had the feeling that Margo thought of her as a refugee and had taken the girl in out of the supreme kindness of her heart. Which, Claire had a feeling, was probably what the woman told people. Rather than admit the startling truth behind the mask and injure her husband's reputation and in the process mar her own, she would lie, never mind the fact it was almost impossible not to tell that Claire and Jerry were brother and sister. This was going to be hard. She knew that, at least with Margo, but as she looked at her brothers and sister, she smiled a little. Perhaps it wouldn't be as bad as she thought.


End file.
